Kenya is embroiled in another diplomatic spat with Somalia after Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau recognised the breakaway region of Somaliland as a sovereign state.
It followed a meeting between Kamau and his Somaliland counterpart Yasin Mohamed last week when he referred to the north-western autonomous territory as a country.
“Kamau this afternoon held talks with Somaliland Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Yasin Hagi Mohamed. The two discussed issues of mutual interest between the two countries and ways of strengthening cooperation,” Kamau re-tweeted.
Protest move
But in a rejoinder, the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Kenya’s ambassador to the country Lucas Tumbo to protest the move.
“We consider this tweet an affront to Somalia’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity as well as harmful to the relationship between Somalia and Kenya,” the ministry protested in a statement to newsrooms.
“Somalia stands for good-neighbourliness, mutual respect and close cooperation with its neighbours, and expects the same from Kenya.”
Although still an unrecognised state by the United Nations, it is both completely independent and politically entirely isolated.
Meanwhile, 20 citizens have petitioned the High Court to block Kenya’s participation in the boundary dispute with Somalia at The Hague-based International Court of Justice.
The petitioners, led by civil rights crusader Kiriro Wa Ngugi, have protested that the Attorney General, the Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary and the Kenya International Boundaries Office should not be allowed to “meekly escort Kenya into an international juridical slaughter-house.”
Lose case
In the event that Kenya loses the case, the petitioners claimed, it will be virtually land-locked with an extremely minimised access to the Indian Ocean. This would amount to interfering with Kenya’s sovereignty, they said.
